Variable bandwidth free-space optical communication system for autonomous or semi-autonomous passenger vehicles

ABSTRACT

A passenger vehicle optical communication system includes a source vehicle including a light source and an endpoint vehicle including a camera. The source vehicle transmits a series of patterns using the light source to communicate, as one example, state information to the endpoint vehicle.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation patent application of U.S.Non-provisional patent application Ser. No. 16/591,209, filed Oct. 2,2019, and titled “Variable Bandwidth Free-Space Optical CommunicationSystem for Autonomous or Semi-Autonomous Passenger Vehicles,” which is anon-provisional patent application of and claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/744,070, filed Oct. 10, 2018 andtitled “Variable Bandwidth Free-Space Optical Communication System forAutonomous or Semi-Autonomous Passenger Vehicles,” the disclosures ofwhich are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

FIELD

Embodiments described herein relate to passenger vehicles and, inparticular, to variable bandwidth free-space optical communicationsystems for autonomous or semi-autonomous passenger vehicles.

BACKGROUND

A passenger vehicle can include a communication system to wirelesslytransact data or information with other nearby passenger vehicles. Suchsystems are referred to as “passenger vehicle communication systems.”The data transacted by passenger vehicle communication system can beused to inform or modify one or more operations or settings of apassenger vehicle. As an example, a “leading” passenger vehicle,followed by a “trailing” passenger vehicle, can communicate to thetrailing passenger vehicle that the leading passenger vehicle willdecelerate. In response, the trailing passenger vehicle may decelerateat a rate substantially matching that of the leading passenger vehicle,thereby maintaining a safe distance separating the leading and trailingpassenger vehicle.

However, conventional passenger vehicle communication systems typicallytransact data between passenger vehicles across high-frequency radiobands using conventional wireless communication technologies orprotocols such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular communications, and so on.These and other conventional passenger vehicle communication systems arehighly susceptible to environmental noise and electromagneticinterference and, as a result, are often unsuitable to or unsafe to relyupon for safety-critical operations or tasks of passenger vehicles, suchas braking, decelerating, accelerating, changing lanes, and so on.

SUMMARY

Embodiments described herein reference an autonomous transport systemthat includes multiple passenger vehicles communicably coupled via anoptical communication system. The optical communication system couplingeach passenger vehicle can be used to propagate information betweenpassenger vehicles.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference will now be made to representative embodiments illustrated inthe accompanying figures. It should be understood that the followingdescriptions are not intended to limit this disclosure to one includedembodiment. To the contrary, the disclosure provided herein is intendedto cover alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be includedwithin the spirit and scope of the described embodiments, and as definedby the appended claims.

FIGS. 1A-1B depict an example passenger vehicle.

FIGS. 2A-2B depict the passenger vehicle of FIGS. 1A-1B with its doorsopen.

FIG. 3A depicts a partial exploded view of an example configuration of apassenger vehicle.

FIG. 3B depicts a partial exploded view of another example configurationof a passenger vehicle.

FIG. 4A depicts a set of passenger vehicles of an autonomoustransportation system operating in a platoon formation.

FIG. 4B depicts a simplified system diagram of a passenger vehicleoptical communication system, such as described herein.

FIG. 5A depicts an example of a passenger vehicle optical communicationsystem in which a source vehicle transmits state (or other) informationto one or more endpoint vehicles by transmitting a sequence ofone-dimensional patterns from a light source.

FIGS. 5B-5C each depict example one-dimensional patterns that can betransmitted by the source vehicle of the passenger vehicle opticalcommunication system of FIG. 5A.

FIG. 6A depicts another example of a passenger vehicle opticalcommunication system in which a source vehicle transmits state (orother) information to one or more endpoint vehicles by transmitting asequence of two-dimensional patterns from a light source.

FIGS. 6B-6C each depict example two-dimensional patterns that can betransmitted by the source vehicle of the passenger vehicle opticalcommunication system of FIG. 6A.

FIG. 7A depicts another example of a passenger vehicle opticalcommunication system in which a source vehicle transmits state (orother) information to one or more endpoint vehicles by transmitting asequence of circular patterns from a light source.

FIGS. 7B-7C each depict example circular patterns that can betransmitted by the source vehicle of the passenger vehicle opticalcommunication system of FIG. 7A.

FIG. 8 depicts another example of a passenger vehicle opticalcommunication system in which a source vehicle includes more than oneoptical communications transmitter.

FIGS. 9A-9B depict another example of a passenger vehicle opticalcommunication system in which an endpoint vehicle includes more than oneoptical communications receiver to detect transmissions from a lightsource of a source vehicle.

FIGS. 10A-10B depict a set of passenger vehicles operating in a platoonformation and bidirectionally-communicating via a passenger vehicleoptical communication system, such as described herein.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart depicting example operations of a method oftransmitting state information between vehicles in a passenger vehicleoptical communication system.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart depicting example operations of a method offorwarding state information between vehicles in a passenger vehicleoptical communication system.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart depicting example operations of a method ofadjusting bandwidth in a passenger vehicle optical communication system.

The use of cross-hatching or shading in the accompanying figures isgenerally provided to clarify the boundaries between adjacent elementsand to facilitate legibility of the figures. Accordingly, neither thepresence nor the absence of cross-hatching or shading conveys orindicates any preference or requirement for particular materials,material properties, element proportions, element dimensions,commonalities of similarly illustrated elements, or any othercharacteristic, attribute, or property for any element illustrated inthe accompanying figures.

Similarly, certain accompanying figures include vectors, rays, tracesand/or other visual representations of one or more example paths—whichmay include reflections, refractions, diffractions, and so on, throughone or more mediums—that may be taken by one or more photons originatingfrom one or more light sources shown or, or in some cases, omitted from,the accompanying figures. It is understood that these simplified visualrepresentations of light are provided merely to facilitate anunderstanding of the various embodiments described herein and,accordingly, may not necessarily be presented or illustrated to scale orwith angular precision or accuracy, and, as such, are not intended toindicate any preference or requirement for an illustrated embodiment toreceive, emit, reflect, refract, focus, and/or diffract light at anyparticular illustrated angle, orientation, polarization, color, ordirection, to the exclusion of other embodiments described or referencedherein.

Additionally, it should be understood that the proportions anddimensions (either relative or absolute) of the various features andelements (and collections and groupings thereof) and the boundaries,separations, and positional relationships presented therebetween, areprovided in the accompanying figures merely to facilitate anunderstanding of the various embodiments described herein and,accordingly, may not necessarily be presented or illustrated to scale,and are not intended to indicate any preference or requirement for anillustrated embodiment to the exclusion of embodiments described withreference thereto.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments herein are generally directed to vehicles that may be usedin a passenger transportation system in which numerous vehicles may beautonomously operated to transport passengers and/or freight. Such assystem is referred to herein as an “autonomous transportation system.”

For example, an autonomous transportation system or service may providea fleet of vehicles that operate along a roadway to pick up and drop offpassengers at either pre-set locations or stops, or at dynamicallyselected locations (e.g., selected by a person via a smartphone). Inother cases, an autonomous transportation system may be configured totransport goods in addition to, or in place of, one or more passengers.For example, in some cases, an autonomous transportation system cantransport passengers during the day and goods at night. For simplicityof description, the embodiments that follow reference an autonomoustransportation system that includes one or more “passenger vehicles” butit may be appreciated that carriage of passengers is merely one exampleservice that may be performed by a vehicle of an autonomoustransportation system, such as described herein.

Passenger vehicles in an autonomous transportation system, such asdescribed herein, may be configured to operate independently andautonomously (i.e., without substantive input or control from a humanoperator and/or a central, stationary, controller). As used herein, theterm “autonomous” may refer to a mode or scheme in which a vehicle canoperate in service to transport goods and/or passengers withoutcontinuous, manual control by a local or remote human operator.

For example, passenger vehicles may navigate along a roadway (andwithout an on-board driver) using a system of sensors that guide thepassenger vehicle, and a system of automatic drive and steeringmechanisms that control the speed and direction of the passengervehicle. Autonomous operation, such as described herein, need notexclude all human or manual operation—whether local or remote—of thepassenger vehicles or of the autonomous transportation system as awhole.

For example, human operators may be able to intervene in the operationof a passenger vehicle for safety, convenience, testing, or otherpurposes. Such intervention may be local to the passenger vehicle, suchas when a human operation (driver) takes controls of the passengervehicle, or remotely, such as when a human operator sends commands tothe passenger vehicle via a remote control system.

Similarly, some aspects of the passenger vehicles may be controlled bypassengers of the passenger vehicles. For example, a passenger in apassenger vehicle may select a target destination, a route, a speed,control the operation of the doors and/or windows, or the like.Accordingly, it will be understood that the terms “autonomous” and“autonomous operation” do not necessarily exclude all human interventionor operation of the individual passenger vehicles or of the overalltransportation system.

The passenger vehicles in an autonomous transportation system asdescribed herein may be operated on a public roadway, or on a closedsystem of lanes. A closed system of lanes may, for example, include alane or set of lanes that is adjacent and/or offset from a publicroadway and, in some cases, shares a common road surface. For simplicityof description, the surface on which a passenger vehicle such asdescribed herein is referred to, simply, as a “roadway.”

In cases where a roadway is a closed system of lanes, the lanes may becustomized for the operation of the passenger vehicles and theautonomous transportation system as a whole. For example, the lanes ofthe roadway may have markers, signs, fiducials, or other objects orcomponents on, in, or proximate the lanes to help the passenger vehiclesoperate.

For example, passenger vehicles may include sensors that can sensemagnetic markers that are embedded in the road surface to help guide thepassenger vehicles and allow the passenger vehicles to determine theirlocation, speed, orientation, or the like. As another example, theroadway may have signs or other indicators that can be detected bycameras on the passenger vehicle and that provide information such aslocation, speed limit, traffic flow patterns, and the like. In othercases, passenger vehicles may include sensors that can sense metallicmarkers of different compositions or alloys that are embedded in theroad surface to help guide the passenger vehicles and allow thepassenger vehicles to determine their location, speed, orientation, orthe like.

The passenger vehicles in an autonomous transportation system mayinclude various sensors, cameras, communications systems, processors,and/or other components or systems that help facilitate autonomousoperation. For example, the passenger vehicles may include sensors thatdetect magnets, metals, or other markers embedded in the road surfaceand which help the passenger vehicle determine its location, position,and/or orientation on the roadway.

The passenger vehicles in the autonomous transportation system may bedesigned to enhance the operation and convenience of the autonomoustransportation system. For example, a primary purpose of the autonomoustransportation system may be to provide comfortable, convenient, rapid,and efficient personal transportation. To provide personal comfort, thepassenger vehicles may be designed for easy passenger ingress andegress, and may have comfortable seating arrangements with generouslegroom and headroom. The passenger vehicles may also have asophisticated suspension system that provides a comfortable ride and adynamically adjustable parameters to help keep the passenger vehiclelevel, positioned at a convenient height, and to ensure a comfortableride throughout a range of variable load weights.

Conventional personal automobiles are designed for operation primarilyin only one direction. This is due in part to the fact that drivers areoriented forwards, and operating in reverse for long distances isgenerally not safe or necessary. However, in autonomous passengervehicles, where humans are not directly controlling the operation of thepassenger vehicle in real-time, it may be advantageous for a passengervehicle to be able to operate bidirectionally. For example, thepassenger vehicles in an autonomous transportation system as describedherein may be substantially symmetrical, such that the passengervehicles lack a visually or mechanically distinct front or back.Further, the wheels may be controlled sufficiently independently so thatthe passenger vehicle may operate substantially identically no matterwhich end of the passenger vehicle is facing the direction of travel.

This symmetrical design provides several advantages. For example, thepassenger vehicle may be able to maneuver in smaller spaces bypotentially eliminating the need to make maneuvers to re-orient thepassenger vehicles so that they are facing “forward” before initiating ajourney.

In further examples, passenger vehicles in an autonomous transportationsystem, such as described herein, may be contemporaneously operated ingroups, generally referred to as “platoons” to increase efficiency(e.g., reduced air resistance and drag by drafting), reduce roadwaycongestion, increased safety due to decreased collisions, and so on.More specifically, in these examples the distance between passengervehicles (e.g., the “headway” between passenger vehicles) can beminimized to increase the route capacity of the autonomoustransportation system.

In these examples, the various passenger vehicles in a platoon maypreferably communicate with one another to coordinate one or moreactions of the platoon or an individual passenger vehicle. For example,it may be desirable for a leading passenger vehicle of a platoon tocommunicate to following passenger vehicles of that platoon that anaccident has been detected or reported ahead, and that the platoon mayneed to change course or decelerate.

More generally, the passenger vehicles in these examples include one ormore wireless vehicle-to-vehicle communications systems that allow thepassenger vehicles to inform one another of operational parameters suchas braking status, acceleration status, upcoming maneuvers (e.g., rightturn, left turn, and so on), number or type of payload (e.g., passengersor goods), and so on. The passenger vehicles may also include wirelesscommunications systems to facilitate communication with a centraloperations system that has supervisory command and control authorityover the autonomous transportation system.

Further to the foregoing, many embodiments described herein referenceelectronic devices, and in particular passenger vehicles, configured totransact (e.g., transmit and receive) data with other electronic devices(e.g., other passenger vehicles, infrastructure or roadway devices,public transportation systems, traffic alert systems, weather alertsystems, law enforcement alert systems, and so on) via free-spaceoptical communication.

As used herein, the phrase “free-space optical communication” refers tothe delivery of digital and/or analog information or data by selectivelymodulating and/or otherwise controlling the spatial distribution (e.g.,pattern), amplitude, frequency, phase, polarization, angle, pulse width,duty cycle, and/or any other suitable characteristic of visible ortraditionally non-visible light propagating through a medium (e.g.,gases, liquids, vacuum, and so on). A system that facilitates free-spaceoptical communication between passenger vehicles from at least one“source vehicle” (or source device) to at least one “endpoint vehicle”(or endpoint device) is referred to herein as a “passenger vehicleoptical communication system.”

Any stationary or portable electronic device can be either (or both) asource vehicle or device or an endpoint vehicle or device of a passengervehicle optical communication system, such as described herein. Forexample, a source device of an autonomous transportation system may be astationary infrastructure device that communicates speed limitinformation to passing passenger vehicles. In other cases, an endpointdevice may be a stationary device positioned on a roadway and configuredreceive information from a passing source vehicle.

For simplicity and description, however, the embodiments that followreference a source vehicle and an endpoint vehicle operating in aplatoon formation in which one of the two vehicles is “leading” a“following” vehicle. The leading vehicle may be the source vehicle(e.g., configured to transmit information to the following vehicle) orthe leading vehicle may be the endpoint vehicle (e.g., configured toreceive information to the following vehicle). It may be appreciatedthat any suitable number of passenger vehicles, such as describe herein,can be included in or associated with a platoon formation and, as such,any number of passenger vehicles can be operated as, and/or in a modeassociated with, a source vehicle or and endpoint vehicle, such asdescribed herein.

In some embodiments, a passenger vehicle optical communication system is“directional” in that light emitted from the source vehicle propagatesthrough a medium (e.g., air) separating the source vehicle and theendpoint vehicle along a substantially line-of-sight path.

As may be appreciated, a directional passenger vehicle opticalcommunication system can facilitate increased data transfer rates,increased data transfer privacy, increased data transfer security, andincreased interference immunity relative to conventionaldevice-to-device data communication protocols, such as Wi-Fi, Near-FieldCommunications, cellular communications, or Bluetooth.

As noted above, a directional passenger vehicle optical communicationsystem, such as described herein, includes at least a source vehicle andat least one endpoint vehicle. The source vehicle includes at least onelight source and the endpoint vehicle includes at least onephotosensitive element.

As a result of this construction, when a light source of a sourcevehicle and a photosensitive element of an endpoint vehicle aresubstantially collimated (e.g., generally aligned along a line-of-sightpath), the source vehicle can communicate digital and/or analoginformation to the endpoint vehicle by modulating light emitted from thelight source.

In this configuration and alignment, the source vehicle and the endpointvehicle can be described as “optically coupled” or, more generally,“communicably coupled.” It may be appreciated that, in many embodiments,optically coupled passenger vehicles can each include one or more lightsources and one or more photosensitive elements to enable multi-channeland/or two-way communication and/or multi-device communication (e.g.,three or more devices optically coupled).

However, for simplicity of description, the embodiments that followreference a directional passenger vehicle optical communication systemconfigured for one-way, single-channel data transfer from a sourcevehicle to an endpoint vehicle.

In this example, the light source of the source vehicle can be anysuitable electrical or electronic light source or combination of lightsources, including both multipart and solid-state light sources. In manyembodiments, a light source of a source vehicle is a semiconductor lightsource such as, but not limited to: a laser light source; alight-emitting diode; an organic light-emitting diode; a resonant-cavitylight-emitting diode; a superluminescent light-emitting diode; abroad-area laser diode; an infrared band laser; an ultraviolet bandlaser; and so on.

In one embodiment, the light source of the source vehicle is atwo-dimensional array of independently-controlled (e.g., addressed)light sources, such as light-emitting diodes (or matrixes oflight-emitting diodes) or VCSEL light sources. As a result of thisconstruction, the source vehicle can be configured to project a seriesor sequence of patterns—also referred to as frames—to illuminate a fieldof view extending from the source vehicle into free space. Each patterntwo-dimensional projected by the source vehicle can encode digitalinformation. In this manner, the source vehicle can transmit a largequantity of digital information to the endpoint vehicle by transmittinga sequence of patterns.

It may be appreciated that, any suitable pattern can be transmitted by asource vehicle of a directional passenger vehicle optical communicationsystem, such as described herein. Examples include, but are not limitedto: barcodes; quick-read codes; matrix codes; and so on.

In some examples, a pattern projected by a source vehicle (that, asnoted above, may be one of a set of frames of a sequence of patterns)can be monochromatic. In other cases, a pattern projected by a sourcevehicle can be polychromatic. In still further cases, a portion of apattern projected by a source vehicle can established by alternatinglyprojecting two or more separate colors, and/or visible or non-visiblelight, in rapid sequence. It may be appreciated that by using thistechnique, the pattern projected by the source vehicle can be “hidden”within an image that otherwise appears static to an observer. Forexample, the colors red and blue can be rapidly alternated such that anobserver perceives the color purple. In this manner, a patternconstructed from specific colors (e.g., red and blue), such a as atwo-dimensional matrix code, can be flashed in rapid sequence with anegative image of the same two-dimensional code; the result may beperceived by an observer as a single static image.

In some embodiments, the light source of a source vehicle can beoptically coupled to one or more passive or active optical structuresthat direct and/or focus light emitted from the light source in aparticular direction or manner. Example optical structures can include,but may not be limited to: waveguides; optical fibers; reflectors;lenses; microlenses; beamforming and/or beam-directing lenses or lensstructures; beam splitters; beam collimators; polarizers; movablelenses; color filters; cut filters; beam expanders; beam divergers; andso on.

For simplicity of description and illustration, the embodiments thatfollow reference a source vehicle that includes a light sourceimplemented as a two-dimensional array of independently-addressablelight-emitting elements that are each configured to emit light in atraditionally non-visible light band, such as infrared. In theseexamples, the light source of the source vehicle is configured toproject a sequence of monochromatic patterns toward the endpointvehicle, each pattern of the sequence of monochromatic patterns encodingdigital information. In these embodiments, each pattern can include oneor more fiducial markers, but this may not be required.

It may be appreciated that these example embodiments are not exhaustive;in other examples, other patterns may be projected by a light source ofa source vehicle such as, but not limited to: polychromatic patterns;patterns including visible and traditionally non-visible light; patternsembedded in an advertisement or signage; and so on.

The photosensitive element of an endpoint vehicle, such as describedherein, can be any suitable photosensitive element or combination ofelements, including both multipart and solid-state photosensitiveelements operated in either photovoltaic mode (e.g., not reverse biased)or photoconductive mode (e.g., reverse biased). Example photosensitiveelements include, but are not limited to: semiconductor photodiodes;semiconductor photodetectors; avalanche diodes; charge-coupled devices;and so on. Further, it may be appreciated that the size and shape of aphotosensitive element can vary from embodiment to embodiment. In somecases, a “photosensitive area” of a photosensitive element can take acircular shape, whereas in other cases, the photosensitive area can takeanother shape (e.g., square, rectangular, octagonal, irregular,polygonal, and so on).

Further, some embodiments can include more than one photosensitive area.For example, a first photosensitive area can be inset within a secondphotosensitive area of the same photosensitive element. In theseexamples, different photosensitive areas may be formed from differentmaterials, or material combinations, and/or may have differentphotosensitivity or electrical characteristics (e.g., rise time, falltime, reverse bias, dark current, and so on). In further examples, aphotosensitive element can be constructed such that its photosensitivearea exhibits particular electrical properties, at least in part, as aresult of the materials, geometry, or dimensions of the photosensitivearea. For example, it may be appreciated that different semiconductormaterials (e.g., silicon, germanium, indium-gallium arsenide, galliumphosphide, and so on) may exhibit different electrical properties (e.g.,rise time, fall time, dark current, and so on) in response tostimulation by different spectral ranges and/or amplitudes of light.Similarly, different photosensitive area geometries and/or dimensionsmay result in different electrical properties. For example, smallerphotosensitive areas may be associated with faster rise times and fasterfall times.

In further examples and embodiments, the photosensitive element of theendpoint vehicle may include an array of independent photosensitiveareas. For example, the endpoint vehicle can include one or more digitalcameras. In many embodiments, the digital camera can be a complimentarymetal-oxide semiconductor camera or a charge-coupled device camera; aperson of skill in the art may appreciate that a number of cameratechnologies may be suitable.

In many examples, the digital camera(s) of the endpoint vehicle areevent-driven digital cameras configured to output image informationcorresponding only to detected changes in light (e.g., a change in lightreceived at a particular pixel exceeds a selected threshold). This ismerely one example. For simplicity of description, many embodiments thatfollow reference an event-driven digital camera, but it may beappreciated that this is merely one example and that other cameras,imaging components, and/or photosensitive elements or arrays ofphotosensitive elements can be included or incorporated in otherembodiments.

As with the light source of the source vehicle, in some embodiments, thephotosensitive element of an endpoint vehicle can be optically coupledto one or more passive or active optical structures that redirect and/orfocus light onto the photosensitive area of the photosensitive element.Example optical structures can include, but may not be limited to:waveguides; optical fibers; reflectors; lenses; microlenses; beamformingand/or beam-directing lenses or lens structures; beam collimators;polarizers; movable lenses; color filters; cut filters; beamconcentrators; and so on.

For simplicity of description and illustration, the embodiments thatfollow reference an endpoint vehicle including at least one digitalcamera including an array of photodiodes or other photosensitiveelements. In these embodiments, the photosensitive elements of thedigital camera are each responsive to light in the spectral rangeemitted by the source vehicle.

As noted above, a directional passenger vehicle optical communicationsystem, such as described herein, preferably operates in the collimatedregime in which the source vehicle and the endpoint vehicle are aligned(e.g., in a row, convoy, or train formation) such that light emittedfrom the source vehicle is visible to the digital camera of the endpointvehicle.

To account for positional and/or angular offset(s) between the sourcevehicle and the endpoint vehicle—or, more generally, between the lightsource of the source vehicle and the digital camera of the endpointvehicle—many embodiments described herein reference de-skewing and/orother image processing techniques that may be performed by an imageprocessor of the endpoint vehicle. For example, in some embodiments, theimage processor of the endpoint vehicle can be configured to detect thepresence, orientation, and/or location of one or more fiducials (orother markers or features, such as edges) in one or more patternstransmitted by the light source of the source vehicle. Based, at leastin part, on an apparent distortion or skewing of the fiducial, the imageprocessor can determine a suitable correction operation to perform tode-skew and normalize the image received by the digital camera of theendpoint device. In further examples, the image processor can calculateone or more properties of the endpoint vehicle or the source vehiclebased on the determine correction operation. For example, if the imageprocessor determines that an image received from the digital camera ofthe endpoint vehicle is distorted, the image processor can determine arelative angular offset and/or a distance between the source vehicle andendpoint vehicle based on the correction operation required tocounteract the apparent distortion.

In still further examples, a directional passenger vehicle opticalcommunication system can be configured to dynamically change and/oradjust its own bandwidth (e.g., change resolution of one or morepatterns transmitted by the source vehicle) to maintain communicationbetween vehicles, despite the presence of environmental interference,such as fog, rain, pollution, and so on.

These foregoing and other embodiments are discussed below with referenceto FIGS. 1A-10. However, those skilled in the art will readilyappreciate that the detailed description given herein with respect tothese figures is for explanatory purposes only and should not beconstrued as limiting.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are isometric views of an example passenger vehicle 100that may be used in an autonomous transportation system as describedherein. FIGS. 1A-1B illustrate the symmetry and bidirectionality of thepassenger vehicle 100. In particular, the passenger vehicle 100 definesa first end 102, shown in the forefront in FIG. 1A, and a second end104, shown in the forefront in FIG. 1B. As shown, the first and secondends 102, 104 are substantially identical. Moreover, the passengervehicle 100 may be configured so that it can be driven with either endfacing the direction of travel. For example, when the passenger vehicle100 is travelling in the direction indicated by arrow 114, the first end102 is the leading end of the passenger vehicle 100, while when thepassenger vehicle 100 is traveling in the direction indicated by arrow112, the second end 104 is the leading end of the passenger vehicle 100.

The passenger vehicle 100 may also include wheels 106 (e.g., 106 a-106d). The wheels 106 may be paired according to their proximity to an endof the passenger vehicle. Thus, wheels 106 a, 106 c may be positionedproximate the first end 102 of the passenger vehicle and may be referredto as a first pair of wheels 106, and the wheels 106 b, 106 d may bepositioned proximate the second end 104 of the passenger vehicle and maybe referred to as a second pair of wheels 106.

Each pair of wheels may be driven by at least one motor (e.g., anelectric motor), and each pair of wheels may be able to steer thepassenger vehicle. Because each pair of wheels is capable of turning tosteer the passenger vehicle, the passenger vehicle may have similardriving and handling characteristics regardless of the direction oftravel. In some cases, the passenger vehicle may be operated in atwo-wheel steering mode, in which only one pair of wheels steers thepassenger vehicle 100 at a given time. In such cases, the particularpair of wheels that steers the passenger vehicle 100 may change when thedirection of travel changes.

The passenger vehicle 100 may also include doors 108, 110 that open toallow passengers and other payloads (e.g., packages, luggage, freight)to be placed inside the passenger vehicle 100. The doors 108, 110, whichare described in greater detail herein, may extend over the top of thepassenger vehicle such that they each define two opposite side segments.For example, each door defines a side segment on a first side of thepassenger vehicle and another side segment on a second, opposite side ofthe passenger vehicle.

The doors also each define a roof segment that extends between the sidesegments and defines part of the roof (or top side) of the passengervehicle. In some cases, the doors 108, 110 resemble an inverted “U” incross-section. The side segments and the roof segment of the doors maybe formed as a rigid structural unit, such that all of the components ofthe door (e.g., the side segments and the roof segment) move in concertwith one another.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are side and isometric views of the passenger vehicle100 with the doors 108, 110 in an open state. Because the doors 108, 110each define two opposite side segments and a roof segment, anuninterrupted internal space 202 may be revealed when the doors 108, 110are opened. This may allow for unimpeded ingress and egress into thepassenger vehicle 100 by passengers on either side of the passengervehicle 100.

The passenger vehicle 100 may also include seats 204, which may bepositioned at opposite ends of the passenger vehicle 100 and may befacing one another. As shown the passenger vehicle includes two seats,though other numbers of seats and other arrangements of seats are alsopossible (e.g., zero seats, one seat, three seats, and so on). In somecases, the seats 204 may be removed, collapsed, or stowed so thatwheelchairs, strollers, bicycles, or luggage may be more easily placedin the passenger vehicle 100.

Passenger vehicles for use in an autonomous transportation system asdescribed herein, such as the passenger vehicle 100, may be designed forsafe and comfortable operation, as well as for ease of manufacture andmaintenance. To achieve these advantages, the passenger vehicles may bedesigned to have a frame structure that includes many of the structuraland operational components of the passenger vehicle (e.g., the motor,suspension, batteries, and so on) and that is positioned low to theground. A body structure may be attached or secured to the framestructure. FIGS. 3A-3B illustrate partial exploded views of passengervehicles, which may be embodiments of the passenger vehicle 100, showingexample configurations of a frame structure and body structure.

The low position of the frame structure combined with the relativelylight-weight body structure produces a passenger vehicle with a very lowcenter of gravity, which increases the safety and handling of thepassenger vehicle. For example, a low center of gravity reduces therollover risk of the passenger vehicle when the passenger vehicleencounters slanted road surfaces, wind loading, sharp turns, or thelike, and also reduces body roll of the passenger vehicle during turningor other maneuvers. Further, by positioning many of the operationalcomponents of the passenger vehicle, such as motors, batteries, controlsystems, sensors (e.g., sensors that detect road-mounted magnets orother markers), and the like, on the frame structure, manufacture andrepair may be simplified.

FIG. 3A is a partial exploded view of a passenger vehicle 300, which maybe an embodiment of the passenger vehicle 100. Details of the passengervehicle 100 may be equally applicable to the passenger vehicle 300, andwill not be repeated here. The passenger vehicle 300 may include a bodystructure 302, which may include doors (e.g., the doors 108, 110,described above) and other body components, and a frame structure 304 towhich the body structure 302 is attached.

The frame structure 304 may be formed by coupling together severalstructural components. For example, FIG. 3A shows a frame structure 304that includes a base module 310 and first and second wheel modules 306,308. The wheel modules 306, 308 may be the same or similar to oneanother, and may in fact be interchangeable with one another. In thisway, assembly and repair may be simplified as wheel modules may bereplaced and/or swapped easily and quickly, and fewer unique replacementparts may be necessary to produce and/or store.

The wheel modules 306, 308 may include drive, suspension, and steeringcomponents of the passenger vehicle. For example, the wheel modules mayinclude wheel suspension systems (which may define or include wheelmounts or axles, illustrated in FIG. 3A as points 312), steeringsystems, drive motors, and optionally motor controllers. The drivemotors may include one or more drive motors that drive the wheels,either independently or in concert with one another. The drive motorsmay receive power from a power source (e.g., battery) that is mounted onthe base module 310. Motor controllers for the drive motors may also bemounted on the wheel modules 306, 308, or they may be mounted on thebase module 310.

The suspension systems may be any suitable type of suspension system. Insome cases, the suspension systems include independent suspensionsystems for each wheel. For example, the suspension systems may bedouble-wishbone torsion-bar suspension systems. The suspension systemsmay also be dynamically adjustable, such as to control the ride height,suspension preload, damping, or other suspension parameters while thepassenger vehicle is stationary or while it is moving. Other suspensionsystems are also contemplated, such as swing axle suspension, slidingpillar suspension, MacPherson strut suspension, or the like. Moreover,spring and damping functions may be provided by any suitable componentor system, such as coil springs, leaf springs, pneumatic springs,hydropneumatic springs, magneto-rheological shock absorbers, and thelike.

The wheel modules 306, 308 may also include steering systems that allowthe wheels to be turned to steer the passenger vehicle. In some casesthe wheels may be independently steerable, or they may be linked (e.g.,via a steering rack) so that they always point in substantially the samedirection during normal operation of the passenger vehicle. As notedabove, because each pair of wheels is steerable, either wheel module306, 308 may be the leading or trailing wheel module at a given time.

The base module 310 may include components such as batteries, motors andmechanisms for opening and closing the passenger vehicle's doors,control systems (including computers or other processing units), and thelike. The wheel modules 306, 308 may be attached to the base module 310in a secure manner, such as via bolts or other fasteners, interlockingstructures, rivets, welds, or the like. In some cases, the wheel modules306, 308 are removable from the base module 310 in a non-destructivemanner (e.g., without having to cut weldments or metal or otherwisedamage the structural material of the module) so that the modules may bereplaced or disassembled from one another for ease of service or repair.

FIG. 3B is a partial exploded view of a passenger vehicle 320, which maybe an embodiment of the passenger vehicle 100. Details of the passengervehicle 100 may be equally applicable to the passenger vehicle 320, andwill not be repeated here. The passenger vehicle 320 may include a bodystructure 322, which may include doors (e.g., the doors 108, 110,described above) and other body components, and a frame structure 324 towhich the body structure 322 is attached.

Whereas the frame structure 304 in FIG. 3A included a base module andtwo wheel modules, the frame structure 324 in FIG. 3B includes two wheelmodules 326, 328 and no separate base module. The wheel modules 326, 328may include all of the components of the wheel modules 306, 308 in FIG.3B, but may also include components that were coupled to or otherwiseintegrated with the base module 310. For example, each wheel module 326,328 may include wheel suspension (which may include wheel mounts oraxles, illustrated in FIG. 3B as points 330), steering systems, drivemotors, and motor controllers.

The wheel modules 326, 328 may also include batteries, control systems(including computers or other processing units), motors and mechanismsfor opening and closing the passenger vehicle's doors, and the like. Insome cases, components of the wheel modules 326, 328 may be configuredto be backup or redundant components. For example, each wheel module326, 328 may include a control system that is capable of controlling allof the operations of the passenger vehicle, including controlling thecomponents and mechanisms of its own wheel module as well as those ofthe other wheel module of the frame structure 324. Accordingly, if onecontrol system malfunctions or fails, the other control system on theother wheel module may seamlessly assume operation of the passengervehicle.

The wheel modules 326, 328 may be attached to one another in a securemanner, such as via bolts or other fasteners, interlocking structures,rivets, welds, or the like. In some cases, the wheel modules 326, 328are removable from one another in a non-destructive manner (e.g.,without having to cut weldments or metal or otherwise damage thestructural material of the module) so that the modules may be replacedor disassembled from one another for ease of service or repair.

While the body structure 322 is shown in FIG. 3B as separate from theframe structure 324, other embodiments may integrate the body structure322 with the frame structure 324. For example, the body structure 322may have a first segment 332 and a second segment 334, which may bestructurally coupled to the wheel modules 326, 328, respectively. Inthis way, structural components of the body structure 322 and the framestructure 324 that require or benefit from precise alignment may beassembled to a common substructure, thereby reducing misalignmentbetween those components.

For example, as described herein, door mechanisms may include a four-barlinkage with one pivot positioned on the first body segment 332, andanother pivot positioned on the wheel module 326 (e.g., the wheel moduledirectly below that body segment). By building the first body segment332 to the underlying wheel module 326, the alignment between thesepivots may be more tightly controlled. Additionally, in many cases thealignment between the first and second segments 332, 334 of the bodystructure 322 may be less important than the alignment between a givensegment of the body structure 322 and the underlying wheel module.Accordingly, integrating separate segments of the body structure 322with separate wheel modules may improve the tolerances and alignment ofthe components of the passenger vehicle.

FIGS. 3A-3B illustrate example configurations of passenger vehicles andframe structures. Other configurations are also possible, however.Moreover, the frame structures and the body structures shown in FIGS.3A-3B are intended more as schematic representations of thesecomponents, and these components may include other structures that areomitted from FIGS. 3A-3B for clarity. Moreover, additional structuralconnections and integrations may be made between the body structures andthe frame structures than are explicitly represented in FIGS. 3A-3B. Forexample, components a door mechanism that open and close the doors ofthe body structures may be joined to both the doors and to the framestructures.

As noted above, passenger vehicles for use in an autonomoustransportation system as described herein may be outfitted with doorsthat open to provide easy ingress and egress from the passenger vehicle.For example, the doors may open to reveal a large, roofless opening thatprovides access to the interior volume of the passenger vehicle. Asdescribed above, the doors may define portions of two opposite sides ofthe passenger vehicle, as well as a portion of the top of the passengervehicle. In order to allow these doors to open in the manner shown anddescribed with respect to FIGS. 2A-2B, the doors may be coupled to theframe and/or a body of the passenger vehicle by door mechanisms that areconfigured to move the doors between a closed position (as shown in FIG.1A) and an open position (as shown in FIGS. 2A-2B). As described herein,the door mechanisms may include mechanical linkages, motors, gearsystems, and the like.

Accordingly, generally and broadly in view of FIGS. 1A-3B, it isunderstood that a passenger vehicle, such as described herein, can beconfigured in a number of suitable ways, Thus, it is understood that theforegoing descriptions of specific embodiments are presented for thepurposes of illustration and description. These descriptions are notexhaustive nor intended to limit the disclosure to the precise formsrecited herein. To the contrary, it will be apparent to one of ordinaryskill in the art that many modifications and variations are possible inview of the above teachings.

For example, as noted above, in some embodiments, a number of passengervehicles of an autonomous transportation system can traverse a roadwaytogether. In many cases, the passenger vehicles can reduce the headwaybetween each passenger vehicle in order to reduce drag, increasefuel/energy efficiency, and to reduce roadway congestion. FIG. 4Adepicts a set of passenger vehicles operating in a platoon formationfacilitated, at least in part, by a passenger vehicle opticalcommunication system 400, such as described herein. Specifically, theplatoon includes four vehicles—identified as the passenger vehicles 402,404, 406, and 408—that are depicted in a row or line.

As noted with respect to other embodiments described herein, thepassenger vehicles 402, 404, 406, and 408 are configured to exchangeinformation across an optical communication link referred to herein as a“passenger vehicle optical communication system.”

FIG. 4B depicts a simplified system diagram of a passenger vehicleoptical communication system 400, that may be used with the autonomoustransportation system of FIG. 4A. In this example embodiment, forsimplicity of description, two vehicles are shown—the passenger vehicle402 and the passenger vehicle 404. As noted with respect to otherembodiments described herein, it may be appreciated that the one-wayoptical communication depicted in FIG. 4B is merely one examplepresented for simplicity of description; it may be appreciated that inmany embodiments, passenger vehicles may be operated as both a sourcedevice and an endpoint device. In this embodiment, however, thesepassenger vehicles are referred to as the source vehicle 402 and theendpoint vehicle 404. The source vehicle 402 is configured to transmitinformation, data, states, roadway status, law enforcement instructions,instructions, or any other suitable data or information to the endpointvehicle 404.

As noted with respect to other embodiments described herein, the sourcevehicle 402 communicates with the endpoint vehicle 404 by projecting asequence of patterns in the form of one or two dimensional codes (e.g.,bar codes, matrix codes, and so on). In many embodiments, the sourcevehicle 402 is configured to stream data and or information to theendpoint vehicle 404, although this may not be required and in otherembodiments, the source vehicle 402 can be configured to transmit dataand/or information to the endpoint vehicle 404 in bursts, packets,frames, or any other suitable manner. In many cases, the source vehicle402 is configured to transmit one or more header frames, packets, orbits to inform the endpoint vehicle 404 to expect a message. In somecases, the information transmitted from the source vehicle 402 to theendpoint vehicle 404 can also include an identifier, such as a uniqueaddress, that identifies the source vehicle 402 to the endpoint vehicle404. Suitable identifiers include, but are not limited to: indexes;media access control addresses; internet protocol addresses; universallyunique identifiers; and so on.

For simplicity of description, many embodiments that follow reference asource vehicle configured to communicate with an endpoint vehicleaccording to a streaming communication protocol. It may be appreciated,however, that any suitable encoding, encryption, or data transfertechniques can be used including one-dimensional and two-dimensionalpatterns that quantize data according to a binary or n-ary encodingschema.

The source vehicle 402 includes a state/code transmitter 410 includingan addressable light source array 412 that projects light in a sequenceof patterns toward an event-driven digital camera 414 in the endpointvehicle 404.

The event-driven digital camera 414 in the endpoint vehicle 404 iscommunicably coupled to an image processing circuit 416 in the endpointvehicle 404 so that changes in light detected and reported by theevent-driven digital camera 414 can be converted into a set or array ofdigital values or a series of digital values suitable for furtherprocessing and/or analysis by the image processing circuit 416.

In some embodiments, the image processing circuit 416 of the endpointvehicle 404 is or includes a multi-bit analog-to-digital converterconfigured to quantize a level of voltage output from a photosensitiveelement of the event-driven digital camera 414 into a series or set ofdigitally represented values.

In other cases, the image processing circuit 416 includes a single-bitanalog-to-digital converter or a limiting amplifier configured togenerate a sequence of voltages that correspond to serial digital binarydata (e.g., ones and zeros). In other words, the image processingcircuit 416 can include a high-speed switching element (e.g., diode,transistor, and so) in order to quantize a voltage output from theevent-driven digital camera 414 as either a binary one or a binary zero.In still other examples, the image processing circuit 416 can be coupledto a buffer and/or shift register configured to convert serialinformation received from the source vehicle 402 into a parallel datathat may be conveyed to and/or processed by other elements or componentsof the endpoint vehicle 404.

In many embodiments, the image processing circuit 416 of the endpointvehicle 404 is configured to de-skew otherwise correct for angular andpositional offsets between the source vehicle 402 and the endpointvehicle 404. For example, if the source vehicle 402 has initiated aturn, the source vehicle 402 may be angularly offset with respect to theendpoint vehicle 404 and, as such, an image received by the event-drivendigital camera 414 may be skewed or otherwise deformed.

In still further embodiments, the image processing circuit 416 can beconfigured to quantify one or more properties of an image correctionoperation that it performs in order to infer information describing arelative positional or angular relationship between the endpoint vehicle404 and the source vehicle 402. For example, if the image processingcircuit 416 determines that a two-dimensional pattern projected by thestate/code transmitter 410 of the source vehicle 402 is skewed or angledin a particular manner or to a certain degree, the image processingcircuit 416 may determine an angle of offset between and/or a distanceseparating the source vehicle 402 and the endpoint vehicle 404.

In some embodiments, the source vehicle 402 can also include othercomponents, such as a passive or active optical structure (e.g., one ormore lenses, filters, protective layers, and so on), identified as theoptical structure 418 a, that may be configured to adjust one or moreoptical characteristics of one or more patterns of the projectedsequence (e.g., focus, direction, angle, divergence, color,polarization, and so on) as light exits the source vehicle 402.

For example, in one embodiment, the optical structure 418 a can beconfigured to color light emitted from the state/code transmitter 410 toa particular color. In another example, the optical structure 418 a canbe configured to reorient light emitted from the state/code transmitter410 to align with a particular axis or plane.

Similar to the source vehicle 402 described above, the endpoint vehicle404 can also optionally include an optical structure 418 b to adjust oneor more characteristics of light before the such light is received bythe event-driven digital camera 414 and, in turn, the image processingcircuit 416.

In typical embodiments, the state/code transmitter 410 of the sourcevehicle 402 includes a drive circuit 420, coupled to the addressablelight source array 412. The drive circuit 420 can be any suitable analogor digital circuit and/or purpose-configured processor, or combinationthereof, configured to generate direct current and/or alternatingcurrent signals suitable to drive one or more light emitting elements ofthe addressable light source array 412, or a portion thereof, of thestate/code transmitter 410 to emit light according to a particularpattern or frame. The drive circuit 420 can also be configured to drivethe addressable light source array 412 to produce one or more headerframes before projecting a sequence to indicate to an endpoint device toprepare to receive a projected sequence of patterns or any other opticalcommunication from the source vehicle 402.

In some examples, the drive circuit 420 of the state/code transmitter410 of the source vehicle 402 is configured to control a level ofcurrent circulated through one or more of the light sources of theaddressable light source array 412 of the state/code transmitter 410,although this may not be required; other embodiments may control avoltage applied across one or more light sources of the addressablelight source array 412 of the state/code transmitter 410. It may beappreciate that the drive circuit 420 can apply any suitable current orvoltage waveform to cause the state/code transmitter 410 to emit lightor patterns of light in any suitable manner and with any suitablecharacteristic(s) (e.g., pulse width, duty cycle, color, frequency,amplitude, spectral content, and so on). As noted with respect to otherembodiments described herein, light emitted from the addressable lightsource array 412 of the state/code transmitter 410 may be monochromaticor polychromatic.

The source vehicle 402 can also include other components, including,without limitation, a processor 422, a memory 424, and so on. Theprocessor 422 of the source vehicle 402 can be configured to access andexecute instructions stored in the memory 424 in order to instantiateany number of suitable classes, objects, virtual machines, threads,pipelines, and/or routines to perform, monitor, and/or coordinate one ormore operations of the source vehicle 402.

Further, the processor 422 can be communicably coupled—either directly(e.g., via general-purpose input/output pins) or indirectly (e.g., viaan intermediary circuit or integrated circuit)—to other components ofthe source vehicle 402 (e.g., vehicle control systems, navigationsystems, door control systems, emergency systems, and so on). In thismanner, the processor 422 can participate in and/or coordinate one ormore operations of one or more of the various hardware components of thesource vehicle 402. For example, the processor 422 may be configured toperform, coordinate, or monitor one or more operations of theaddressable light source array 412 and/or the state/code transmitter410.

Similar to the source vehicle 402 described above, the endpoint vehicle404 can also include a processor 426, a memory 428, and so on, each ofwhich may be communicably coupled to the image processing circuit 416.Similar to the processor 422 of the source vehicle 402 described above,in many configurations, the processor 426 of the endpoint vehicle 404can be configured to access and execute instructions stored in thememory 428 in order to instantiate any number of suitable classes,objects, virtual machines, threads, pipelines, and/or routines toperform, monitor, and/or coordinate one or more operations of theendpoint vehicle 404. Further, the processor 426 can be communicablycoupled—either directly (e.g., via general-purpose input/output pins) orindirectly (e.g., via an intermediary circuit or integrated circuit)—tovarious hardware components of the endpoint vehicle 404. For example,the processor 426 may be configured to perform, coordinate, or monitorone or more operations of the event-driven digital camera 414.

In this manner, and as a result of this construction, the endpointvehicle 404 can receive digital information in the form of patterns andsequences of patterns projected from the source vehicle 402, via theoptical communication link established between the state/codetransmitter 410 of the source vehicle 402 and the event-driven digitalcamera 414 of the endpoint device 402.

Generally and broadly, FIGS. 5A-5C depict an example passenger vehicleoptical communication system in which information is transmitted andreceived by and between passenger vehicles by selectively modulatingand/or otherwise controlling a one-dimensional spatial distribution(e.g., linear pattern), amplitude, frequency, phase, polarization,angle, pulse width, duty cycle, and/or any other suitable characteristicof visible or traditionally non-visible light emitted from a lightemitting region of a source vehicle and that may be detected by adigital camera of an endpoint vehicle.

More specifically, in these embodiments, a passenger vehicle (a sourcevehicle) includes an array of independently-controllable lights arrangedin a linear pattern. In some cases, the passenger vehicle includes avertically-oriented array of independently-controllable light-emittingelements disposed at each of four corners of the passenger vehicle. Inorder to convey information, the array of independently-controllablelights arranged in a linear pattern can be selectively illuminated (ornot illuminated). For example, if the array ofindependently-controllable lights arranged in a linear pattern includesfour light-emitting diodes, a binary 3 can be communicated byilluminating two of the four light-emitting diodes. A person of skill inthe art will understand that this is merely one example; any suitableencoding or illumination pattern can be used to convey digitalinformation from the source vehicle to the endpoint vehicle.

For example, FIG. 5A depicts a passenger vehicle optical communicationsystem 500 optically coupling a number of passenger vehicles, includinga source vehicle 502 and an endpoint vehicle 504 that are aligned in aplatoon formation. In this example embodiment an additional vehicle isalso shown, identified as the adjacent vehicle 506, as operatingadjacent to the platoon including the source vehicle 502 and an endpointvehicle 504.

As with other embodiments described herein, the source vehicle 502 isconfigured to optically communicate data to the endpoint vehicle 504 forany suitable purpose. For example, the source vehicle 502 cancommunicate, without limitation, current, past, or future: stateinformation; braking information; navigation information; accelerationinformation; passenger information; location information; laneinformation; speed information; destination information; batterycapacity information; maintenance information; road hazard information;weather information; temperature information; image/video information;payment information; odometer information; door status information; lockstatus information; emergency information; road sign information; roadtemperature information; precipitation information; roadway obstructioninformation; police or law enforcement information; traffic information;and so on.

In addition, the source vehicle 502 can communicate data to anevent-driven digital camera (not shown) in the endpoint vehicle 504related to other passenger vehicles or non-passenger vehicles (e.g.,within a platoon including both the source vehicle 502 and the endpointvehicle 504, or vehicles in other lanes, such as the adjacent vehicle506). More specifically, the source vehicle 502 can communicate to theendpoint vehicle 504 information about other passenger vehicles—whetherautonomous or otherwise—in front of the source vehicle 502.

To facilitate communication with the endpoint vehicle 504, the sourcevehicle 502 includes a set of vertically-oriented arrays ofindependently-controllable light-emitting elements, each of which isidentified as the state/code transmitter 508.

The other passenger vehicles of the passenger vehicle opticalcommunication system 500 can include similar elements; avertically-oriented array of independently-controllable light-emittingelements 510 can be incorporated by the endpoint vehicle 504 and avertically-oriented array of independently-controllable light-emittingelements 512 can be incorporated by the adjacent vehicle 506.

It may be appreciated that the each vertically-oriented array ofindependently-controllable light-emitting elements of each vehicle ofthe passenger vehicle optical communication system 500 can be configuredin an identical or similar manner. However, this is merely oneconfiguration; other embodiments can be implemented in other ways. Forexample, in other embodiments, a passenger vehicle such as describedherein includes a horizontally-oriented array ofindependently-controllable light-emitting elements. In other cases, alinear array of independently-controllable light-emitting elements canbe oriented in any other manner and/or may be disposed or arranged inany suitable manner (e.g., within a bumper of the passenger vehicle,within a window of a passenger vehicle, and so on).

Accordingly, for simplicity of description, the embodiments that followreference the vertically-oriented array of independently-controllablelight-emitting elements 508 of the source vehicle 502 only.

In the illustrated example, the source vehicle 502 and the endpointvehicle 504 are separated by a headway that may be variable (e.g., basedon speed or road conditions) or that may be substantially fixed and/orotherwise maintained by the source vehicle 502 and the endpoint vehicle504.

As noted above, the source vehicle 502 and the endpoint vehicle 504 canbe any suitable passenger vehicles; example passenger vehicles arenon-exhaustively listed above. The source vehicle 502 includes astate/code transmitter (not shown) that, in turn, includes at least onelight emitting element array. In typical embodiments, the state/codetransmitter includes an array of light emitting elements that are eachindividually addressable. As a result of this construction, the sourcevehicle 502 can operate the state/code transmitter to project a seriesof one-dimensional patterns that can be read, detected, or otherwiseobserved by one or more event-driven digital cameras (or any othersuitable light-sensitive element or array of elements, whetherevent-driven or otherwise) in the endpoint vehicle 504.

As noted above, the endpoint vehicle 504 can also include an imageprocessing circuit/processor configured to decode, decrypt, or otherwiseinterpret the information transmitted from the source vehicle 502 and,additionally or alternatively, to de-skew and/or otherwise correct orreorient images captured by the event-driven digital camera of theendpoint vehicle 504.

For example, FIGS. 5B-5C are provided to show example one-dimensionalpatterns 514 a, 514 b that can be transmitted by the source vehicle 502to the endpoint vehicle 504 to communicate information to the endpointvehicle 504. In these figures, digital information can be conveyedthrough contrast between different regions or sections of a particularvertical pattern (e.g., barcode). More specifically, light emittingelements may not be illuminated (e.g., the pattern section 516) whereasother sections may be illuminated (e.g., the pattern section 518).

In some cases, the state/code transmitter—or a portion thereof, such asa lens—can extend at least partially through the exterior surface of thesource vehicle 502, although this is not required. In some cases, aprotective cover (e.g., lens window) can be provided in, or defined by,the exterior surface of the source vehicle 502. In these embodiments,the state/code transmitter of the source vehicle 502 is positionedbehind, and at least partially protected by, the protective cover.

In still other embodiments, the state/code transmitter can beaesthetically or visually hidden by one or more body panels of thesource vehicle 502. In these examples, one or more portions of the bodyof the source vehicle 502 may be at least partially transparent to lightemitted by the state/code transmitter of the source vehicle 502.

As with other embodiments described herein, the state/code transmitterof the source vehicle 502 is configured to project a sequence of linearor otherwise one dimensional patterns—also referred to as frames—acrossthe headway distance toward the endpoint vehicle 504.

It may be appreciated that the foregoing description of FIGS. 5A-5C, andthe various alternatives thereof and variations thereto are presented,generally, for purposes of explanation, and to facilitate a thoroughunderstanding of various possible configurations of a passenger vehicleoptical communication system including a source vehicle configured totransmit information to an endpoint vehicle by modulating and/orotherwise controlling a linear array of light emitting elements.However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that some of thespecific details presented herein may not be required in order topractice a particular described embodiment, or an equivalent thereof.

Thus, it is understood that the foregoing descriptions of specificembodiments are presented for the limited purposes of illustration anddescription. These descriptions are not exhaustive nor intended to limitthe disclosure to the precise forms recited herein. To the contrary, itwill be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that manymodifications and variations are possible in view of the aboveteachings.

For example, as noted with respect to other embodiments describedherein, it may be appreciated that each depicted passenger vehicle canbe configured to operate as either or both a source vehicle or anendpoint vehicle, such as described herein. For example, the passengervehicle may be configured to transmit to and receive information fromthe passenger vehicle 504 and to transmit to and receive informationfrom the passenger vehicle 506. In these examples, it is understood thatall passenger vehicles of an autonomous transport system, such asdescribed herein, can include hardware such as a state/code transmittersystem (more generally, “transmitter”) with at least one array of lightemitting elements and, additionally, can include hardware such as anevent-driven digital camera (more generally “receiver”).

In further embodiments, each passenger vehicle can include multipletransmitters and multiple receivers such that the passenger vehicle canoptically communicate with other passenger vehicles regardless of wheresuch vehicles are positioned relative to the passenger vehicle. Forexample, as illustrated, each passenger vehicle shown in FIG. 5A issubstantially rectangular. In this example, the passenger vehicles caninclude four separate transmitters and four separate receivers, eachassociated with a corner or side of the passenger vehicle in order tooptically communicate with passenger vehicles at any position relativeto the passenger vehicle (e.g., front, behind, to the left, to theright, and so on).

In these examples, a passenger vehicle can include a master controlleror processor that obtains information from each transmitter and eachreceiver of the optical communication system. The information receivedfrom each transmitter and each receiver can be analyzed, used, stored,or interpreted at least in part based on a direction of travel of thepassenger vehicle and at least in part on the location of eachrespective transmitter and each respective receiver.

For example, if a passenger vehicle receives information from aforward-facing receiver, a master controller can categorize suchinformation as received from a vehicle leading the passenger vehicle.Similarly, if a passenger vehicle receives information from arearward-facing receiver, a master controller can categorize suchinformation as received from a vehicle trailing the passenger vehicle.Similarly, if a passenger vehicle receives information from a left-sidereceiver, a master controller can categorize such information asreceived from a vehicle to the left of the passenger vehicle. Similarly,if a passenger vehicle receives information from a right-side receiver,a master controller can categorize such information as received from avehicle to the right of the passenger vehicle.

Further, it may be appreciated that similar to other embodimentsdescribed herein, a passenger vehicle of an autonomous transport systemmay symmetrically dispose transmitters and receivers relative to thefront, back, left, and right sides of the vehicle.

As noted above, a passenger vehicle optical communication system, suchas described herein, need not be limited to transmitting and receivingthe linear patterns or codes described in reference to FIGS. 5A-5C. Forexample, generally and broadly, FIGS. 6A-6C depict an example passengervehicle optical communication system in which information can betransmitted and received by and between passenger vehicles byselectively modulating and/or otherwise controlling the two-dimensionalspatial distribution (e.g., two-dimensional pattern), amplitude,frequency, phase, polarization, angle, pulse width, duty cycle, and/orany other suitable characteristic of visible or traditionallynon-visible light emitted from a light emitting region of a sourcevehicle and that may be detected by a digital camera of an endpointvehicle.

FIG. 6A depicts a passenger vehicle optical communication system 600optically coupling a number of passenger vehicles, including a sourcevehicle 602 and an endpoint vehicle 504 that are aligned in a platoonformation. Each of the source vehicle 602 and the endpoint vehicle 604can be configured in a similar manner as described above; thisdescription is not repeated.

In this example, the source vehicle 602 includes a state/codetransmitter 606 that is characterized by a two-dimensional array ofindependently-controllable light-emitting elements. The state/codetransmitter 606 is configured to transmit or project a sequence orseries of two-dimensional optical patterns (e.g., matrix codes, QRcodes, and so on) to convey information to another passenger vehicle,such as the endpoint vehicle 604. Example two-dimensional codes that canbe transmitted by the state/code transmitter 606 to the endpoint vehicle604 are shown in FIGS. 6B-6C. These matrix codes 610 a, 610 b are eachcharacterized by well-defined edges 612 that can be detected and/orrecognized by an event-driven digital camera or other system (e.g., animage processing circuit) or hardware of a receiver, such as describedherein. The matrix codes 610 a, 610 b also include one or more datamatrices 614, 616 that may change from frame to frame to conveydifferent information to a passenger vehicle. The matrix codes 610 a,610 b can also include one or more fiducials or markers 618 that assistan event-driven digital camera or other system (e.g., an imageprocessing circuit) or hardware of a receiver in determining anorientation and position of the source vehicle relative to the endpointvehicle.

Still other embodiments can be implemented in other ways. FIG. 7Adepicts another example of a passenger vehicle optical communicationsystem 700 in which a source vehicle 702 transmits state (or other)information to one or more endpoint vehicles, such as the endpointvehicle 704, by transmitting a sequence of circular patterns from alight source or circular array 706. FIGS. 7B-7C each depict examplecircular patterns 710 a, 710 b that can be transmitted by the sourcevehicle of the passenger vehicle optical communication system of FIG.7A. It may be appreciated that the number of concentric circles (orother shapes) can vary from embodiment to embodiment. Further, it may beunderstood that any other suitable concentric shape or shape(s) can beused by a state/code transmitter such as described herein.

FIG. 8 depicts another example of a passenger vehicle opticalcommunication system 800 in which a passenger vehicle 802 is configuredto communicate with a passenger vehicle 804 using one of multipledifferent optical communication transmitters and/or receivers. Morespecifically, the passenger vehicle 804 can include a linear array oflight emitting elements 806 (see, e.g., FIGS. 5A-5C) that cancommunicate a first information or a first information or data type tothe passenger vehicle 802 and, additionally, a two-dimensional array oflight emitting elements 808 (see, e.g., FIGS. 6A-7C) that cancommunicate a second information or a second information or data type tothe passenger vehicle 802. In addition, the passenger vehicle 804 caninclude an event-driven digital camera 810 that can receive informationfrom the passenger vehicle 802.

The first information communicated by the linear array of light emittingelements 806 of the passenger vehicle 804 can be the same information asthe second information communicated by the two-dimensional array oflight emitting elements 808, but this may not be required. For example,in some cases, the two-dimensional array of light emitting elements 808may be a “primary” optical communication method whereas the linear arrayof light emitting elements 806 of the passenger vehicle 804 may be a“secondary,” “auxiliary,” “failover,” or “redundant” opticalcommunication method.

In view of the preceding example, it may be appreciated that a passengervehicle of an autonomous transport system, such as described herein, caninclude any suitable number of optical communication transmitters andany suitable number of optical communication receivers. The varioustransmitters and receivers can be cooperatively controlled and/oroperated by a master controller or, in other cases, may be independentlyoperated. Further, the various optical communication transmitters andreceivers may be configured to operate with the same or differentbandwidths, the same or different encryption or encoding schemes, thesame or different wavelengths of light, and so on. The varioustransmitters and receivers can be operated simultaneously, or may bemultiplexed with one another. Some transmitters may be dedicated tocommunicate a first information type to other passenger vehicles nearbyand other transmitters may be dedicated to communicate a secondinformation type to other passenger vehicles nearby. For example, thetwo-dimensional array of light emitting elements 808 may be used only tocommunicate information relevant to a platoon formation (e.g., speed,braking information, traffic information, roadway condition information,passenger information, and so on), whereas the linear array of lightemitting elements 806 may be used to only to communicate navigationinformation (e.g., lane change operations, drop off locations, and soon).

In some embodiments, a passenger vehicle (or a component of a passengervehicle, such as a master controller coupled to one or more discreteoptical communication transmitters or receivers) may switch betweendifferent transmitters and receivers and/or may modify the behavior orfunction of one or more transmitters or receivers based on one or moreenvironmental or operational conditions. Such conditions include, butare not limited to: distance between passenger vehicles in a platoonformation; speed of passenger vehicles in a platoon formation; airquality; temperature; dew point; humidity; pollution; vandalism;equipment failure or damage; and so on. In many cases, a change in oneor more environmental or operational conditions can be detected by asecond or sensor group of a passenger vehicle (e.g., camera, temperaturesensor, humidity sensor, and so on).

For example, if a first passenger vehicle is separated by a largedistance from a second passenger vehicle in a platoon formation, opticalcommunication using a two-dimensional array of light emitting elementsmay be difficult; an event-driven digital camera may not be able toreliably image the two-dimensional array. In this example, theresolution of a pattern and/or rate at which a sequence of patterns istransmitted by the two-dimensional array of light emitting elements maybe reduced. In this example, it may be appreciated that althoughbandwidth and data rate may be reduced, optical communication betweenthe first passenger vehicle and the second passenger vehicle ismaintained.

In an opposite example, as a headway distance between a first passengervehicle and a second passenger vehicle decreases, the resolution,bandwidth, and data rate of optical information transmitted by thetwo-dimensional array of light emitting elements can be increased.

In other examples, a passenger vehicle may switch between differentoptical communication transmitters and optical communication receivers.

The foregoing example embodiments are no exhaustive; it is appreciatedthat a passenger vehicle, such as described herein, can incorporate anynumber of optical communication transmitters and receivers, positionedanywhere relative to an exterior of a passenger vehicle (including on aroof, or oriented downwardly toward the roadway), and so on.

FIGS. 9A-9B depicts another example of a passenger vehicle opticalcommunication system 900 in which an endpoint vehicle 902 includes morethan one optical communications receiver (e.g., a digital camera,event-driven digital camera, or other light-sensitive element or arrayof elements) to detect transmissions from a light source of a sourcevehicle. In particular, in FIG. 9A, three different and discrete opticalcommunications receivers 904 are shown. The discrete opticalcommunications receivers 904 can be disposed in different locations ofthe endpoint vehicle 902. In some cases, the discrete opticalcommunications receivers 904 are oriented to receive light from the samedirection, but this may not be required; some of the discrete opticalcommunications receivers 904 can be oriented to, or may be opticallyadapted to (e.g., via a lens or mirror or other optical structure),detect light from a port or starboard side of the endpoint vehicle 902.The discrete optical communications receivers 904 can each be the sametype of optical communications receiver, but this is not required. Thediscrete optical communications receivers 904 can be simultaneouslyoperated or may be operated independently.

In some cases, the discrete optical communications receivers 904 can becovered by a protective cover or hood 906 that can reduce environmentalinterference with the operation of the discrete optical communicationsreceivers 904. The cover or hood 906 can be made from any number ofsuitable materials in any number of suitable shapes or configurations.

It may be appreciated that the foregoing description of FIGS. 5A-9B, andthe various alternatives thereof and variations thereto are presented,generally, for purposes of explanation, and to facilitate a thoroughunderstanding of various possible configurations of a passenger vehicleoptical communication system such as described herein. However, it willbe apparent to one skilled in the art that some of the specific detailspresented herein may not be required in order to practice a particulardescribed embodiment, or an equivalent thereof.

Thus, it is understood that the foregoing descriptions of specificembodiments are presented for the limited purposes of illustration anddescription. These descriptions are not exhaustive nor intended to limitthe disclosure to the precise forms recited herein. To the contrary, itwill be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that manymodifications and variations are possible in view of the aboveteachings.

For example, it may be understood that, generally and broadly, anautonomous transport system, such as described herein typically includesa set or number of identically or similarly configured passengervehicles that may be configured to communicate with one another via anoptical communication system, such as described herein. The opticalcommunication, as noted above, typically takes place by and betweenpassenger vehicles in a platoon formation, but this is not required;some passenger vehicles can receive or transmit data via an opticalcommunication system to infrastructure devices (e.g., devices installedin or nearby the roadway), law enforcement devices or vehicles,third-party devices or vehicles, and so on. Communication between thevarious passenger vehicles of an autonomous transport system istypically bidirectional, but this may not be required.

FIGS. 10A-10B depict a set of passenger vehicles operating in a platoonformation 1000 and bidirectionally-communicating via a passenger vehicleoptical communication system, such as described herein. In FIG. 10A, aleading passenger vehicle 1002 is followed by two following passengervehicles, one of which is identified as the middle passenger vehicle1004 and one of which is identified as the trailing passenger vehicle1006. It may be appreciated that, although not depicted in these figuresfor simplicity, each of the passenger vehicles shown can include atleast one or more optical communications transmitters and at least oneor more optical communications receivers such as described herein.

In this example, the leading passenger vehicle 1002 is positioned andoriented to communicate information to, and receive information from,the middle passenger vehicle 1004. Similarly, the middle passengervehicle 1004 is positioned and oriented to communicate information to,and receive information from, the trailing passenger vehicle 1006.

The passenger vehicles can communicate any suitable information. Forexample, the leading passenger vehicle 1002 may communicate speed and/orbraking information to the middle passenger vehicle 1004 that, in turn,can communicate speed and/or braking information to the trailingpassenger vehicle 1006. In this manner, in typical implementations,information regarding a state or mode or operation of the leadingpassenger vehicle 1002 can be near instantaneously communicated to allvehicles in the platoon formation 1000.

In other examples, the trailing passenger vehicle 1006 can communicateinformation to the middle passenger vehicle 1004 that in turn cancommunicate to the leading passenger vehicle 1002.

In still further examples, any of the passenger vehicles of the platoonformation 1000 can communicate information related to a current state ofanother passenger vehicle in the platoon. In some cases, a passengervehicle can communicate its own state information in addition to stateinformation of other passenger vehicles or, additionally oralternatively, a passenger vehicle can communicate only stateinformation from other passenger vehicles. More generally and broadly,it may be understood that a passenger vehicle such as described hereincan be configured to send its own state information to other passengervehicles and, additionally or alternatively, a passenger vehicle can beconfigured to forward, with or without alteration, state information ofother passenger vehicles. In FIG. 10B, a leading passenger vehicle 1002is followed by a single passenger vehicle identified as the followingpassenger vehicle 1004. In a second lane adjacent to the leading andfollowing passenger vehicles are two other passenger vehicles that maybe either moving in the same or a different direction than the leadingpassenger vehicle 1002 and the following passenger vehicle 1004. Thesevehicles are identified as the adjacent-lane passenger vehicles 1006,1008.

In this example, substantially all passenger vehicles communicateinformation with all passenger vehicles nearby. For example, the leadingpassenger vehicle 1002 and the following passenger vehicle 1004 can eachbidirectionally share information and/or communicate information to theadjacent-lane passenger vehicle 1006.

It may be appreciated that the foregoing description of FIGS. 10A-10B,and the various alternatives thereof and variations thereto arepresented, generally, for purposes of explanation, and to facilitate athorough understanding of various possible benefits of bidirectionaloptical communication by and between a passenger vehicles. However, itwill be apparent to one skilled in the art that some of the specificdetails presented herein may not be required in order to practice aparticular described embodiment, or an equivalent thereof.

Thus, it is understood that the foregoing descriptions of specificembodiments are presented for the limited purposes of illustration anddescription. These descriptions are not exhaustive nor intended to limitthe disclosure to the precise forms recited herein. To the contrary, itwill be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that manymodifications and variations are possible in view of the aboveteachings.

For example, it may be appreciated that in a platoon formation orotherwise, a passenger vehicle can communicate to nearby vehicles in anysuitable manner. Information can be consumed and/or forwarded along aplatoon formation such that information originating at a trailingpassenger vehicle can be rapidly and quickly propagated through theplatoon formation to the leading passenger vehicle and vice versa;information can be communicated in any direction between vehicles in aplatoon formation, which may be a single line of vehicles in a singlelane or may be a multi-lane platoon.

Passenger vehicles in a platoon formation can also modify one or morecharacteristics of information received from other passenger vehiclesbefore forwarding such information to other passenger vehicles in aplatoon formation. For example, a passenger vehicle may be configured toredact vehicle identifying information before forwarding suchinformation.

Similarly, information communicated from various passenger vehicles in aplatoon can be communicated for any suitable purpose. Examples ofinformation that can be passed and shared by and between a number ofcars in a platoon formation includes, without limitation, current, past,or future: state information; braking information; navigationinformation; acceleration information; passenger information; locationinformation; lane information; speed information; destinationinformation; battery capacity information; maintenance information; roadhazard information; weather information; temperature information;image/video information; payment information; odometer information; doorstatus information; lock status information; emergency information; roadsign information; road temperature information; precipitationinformation; roadway obstruction information; police or law enforcementinformation; traffic information; and so on.

In addition, it may be appreciated that information may be communicatedbetween passenger vehicles in a platoon formation for a number ofsuitable purposes. Examples include, but are not limited to:communicating an intention to change lanes; communicating a need toreduce speed; communicating presence of a roadway hazard, construction,or other obstruction; communicating presence of an emergency situation(e.g., on a roadway or within a passenger vehicle); communication of anupcoming navigation change (e.g., performing a maneuver or turn);communication of a change in roadway speed limit; communication of acurrent state or presence of a traffic flow regulation (e.g., stop sign,onramp meter, traffic light, and so on); communication of a low energystate (e.g., low battery, low fuel, and so on); communication ofchanging weather conditions (e.g., decreased temperature, precipitation,and so on); communication of absolute position errors or offsets;communication of a loss of position fix; communication of one or morehardware failures; and so on.

As one example, a passenger vehicle may receive an optical communicationthat a leading passenger vehicle is decelerating. In response, thepassenger vehicle may correspondingly decelerate to maintain the headwaydistance between it and its leading vehicle.

As another example, a passenger vehicle may receive an opticalcommunication that an adjacent vehicle intends to merge into the laneoccupied by the passenger vehicle. In response, the passenger vehiclecan accelerate or decelerate to establish a space sufficient for theadjacent vehicle to safely merge.

In addition, it may be appreciated that communication between passengervehicles in a platoon formation can be triggered, initiated, orterminated in response to a number of suitable triggers or conditions.Examples include: a passenger vehicle joining a platoon; a passengervehicle changing state (e.g., increasing speed, decreasing speed,braking, and so on); a passenger vehicle breaking formation (e.g., todrop off a passenger, for safety reasons, and so on); a passengervehicle detecting a reportable condition (e.g., a change in weather, astop request by a passenger, an emergency situation, external input, ahardware failure, a safety issue); and so on. In further examples,communication between passenger vehicles in a platoon formation can beconstant or substantially constant; in these examples, information maybe “streamed” at a substantially constant rate between passengervehicles in any direction relative to the direction of travel of theplatoon. In still further examples, communication between passengervehicles in a platoon formation can occur at regular intervals. Theinterval at which communication between passenger vehicles occurs canchange, can be negotiated between individual passenger vehicles, can beset by a preference or external setting, and so on. In some cases,passenger vehicles in a platoon formation can be configured to transmita heartbeat or other “keep-alive” signal in order to maintain activecommunication between passenger vehicles.

It may be appreciated that the foregoing examples are not exhaustive. Assuch, it may be appreciated that passenger vehicles such as describedherein can be configured to communicate with any suitable number ofpassenger vehicles, for any suitable purpose, in response to, or as aresult of, any suitable trigger or condition.

In still further examples, optical communication between passengervehicles may be one of a number of communication channels or linksestablished between passenger vehicles. For example, in a platoonformation including two passenger vehicles, the two passenger vehiclescan be communicably coupled via an optical communication system such asdescribed herein. In addition, these passenger vehicles can beadditionally communicably coupled via a Wi-Fi and/or a Bluetoothconnection. In these examples, the optical communication “link”established between the passenger vehicles may be a primary orsecondary/failover communication link.

In some cases, each passenger vehicle of a platoon or an autonomoustransport system, such as described herein, can be a closed-loop statemachine that holds in a memory various states of other passengervehicles nearby it.

As such, generally and broadly, FIGS. 11-13 are provided to presentexample methods that may be associated with the operation of an opticalcommunication system, such as described herein.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart depicting example operations of a method oftransmitting state information between vehicles in a passenger vehicleoptical communication system. The method 1100 can be performed by anysuitable hardware, processor, or combination thereof included in apassenger vehicle, such as described herein. The method 1100 includesoperation 1102 in which a passenger vehicle state is updated. An exampleis a velocity or speed state that has changed. Thereafter, at operation1104, the passenger vehicle can operate an optical communicationstransmitter, such as described herein, to communicate the new andupdated state, optionally along with an identifier and/or other metadata(e.g., state change time, state change rate, previous states, and soon).

FIG. 12 is a flowchart depicting example operations of a method offorwarding state information between vehicles in a passenger vehicleoptical communication system. The method 1200 includes operation 1202 inwhich an updated state is received from a leading passenger vehicle. Atoperation 1204, a state of the receiving passenger vehicle can beupdated. Finally, at operation 1206, the state of the receivingpassenger vehicle is optically communicated to a trailing passengervehicle.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart depicting example operations of a method ofadjusting bandwidth in a passenger vehicle optical communication system.The method 1300 begins at operation 1302 in which an instruction isreceived to reduce bandwidth. The instruction can be received fromanother passenger vehicle or from a processor or component within thepassenger vehicle itself. Thereafter, at operation 1304, bandwidth ofoptical communication can be changed (e.g., reducing resolution of atwo-dimensional matrix code).

The foregoing description, for purposes of explanation, used specificnomenclature to provide a thorough understanding of the describedembodiments. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art thatthe specific details are not required in order to practice the describedembodiments. Thus, the foregoing descriptions of the specificembodiments described herein are presented for purposes of illustrationand description. They are not targeted to be exhaustive or to limit theembodiments to the precise forms disclosed. It will be apparent to oneof ordinary skill in the art that many modifications and variations arepossible in view of the above teachings.

For example, while the methods or processes disclosed herein have beendescribed and shown with reference to particular operations performed ina particular order, these operations may be combined, sub-divided, orre-ordered to form equivalent methods or processes without departingfrom the teachings of the present disclosure. Moreover, structures,features, components, materials, steps, processes, or the like, that aredescribed herein with respect to one embodiment may be omitted from thatembodiment or incorporated into other embodiments.

What is claimed is:
 1. A passenger vehicle communication system, such asdescribed herein.
 2. A method of transacting data between passengervehicles, such as described herein.
 3. A method of transacting datausing a two-dimensional array of light-emitting elements, such asdescribed herein.
 4. A method of changing bandwidth of an opticalcommunication system, such as described herein.
 5. A method of changinga state of an autonomous passenger vehicle, such as described herein.